Three days later, after a long and dusty journey, Ace finally arrived in Pallet Town.
The past three days had been quite a struggle for Ace, primarily because of the Pokémon egg.
The egg had been dormant for too long. Even though Ace followed the manual's advice and used the system to prepare a nutrient solution, soaking the egg in it to absorb nutrients, the egg still acted up occasionally. Sometimes it seemed on the verge of dying, or the nutrient solution would suddenly be insufficient or too concentrated—trivial matters like that.
To complete the mission, or rather, to find out what kind of Pokémon would hatch from this egg, Ace had put in his best efforts.
It was safe to say that even before hatching, the resources Ace had invested in this Pokémon egg were already about half of what he had spent on Zubat.
He invested so much, essentially for the system's vague promise that it would become his "aid."
For the system to use a word like "aid," Ace felt that this Pokémon egg should hatch into a relatively powerful Pokémon.
Otherwise, he'd be crazy to invest so many resources.
Although he had arrived in Pallet Town, Ace's heart sank halfway after asking the local residents for information.
It was perfectly possible to reach Cinnabar Island by water from the sea near Pallet Town.
However, Cinnabar Island was currently just an uninhabited volcanic island. Unless someone, like Ace, was familiar with the plot, or was a member of Team Rocket, they wouldn't know about Blaine's laboratory on the island. Outsiders would simply consider it deserted.
Since it was an uninhabited island, naturally, no one was willing to go there. Furthermore, Pallet Town was ultimately a small town and not as developed as large cities.
Ace asked around and finally found a fishing family.
After explaining his intentions, Ace even paid three thousand League currency to convince the old fisherman to make a long journey and take him to Cinnabar Island.
With everything ready, Ace boarded the old man's small fishing boat.
The small fishing boat was an ancient wooden vessel with a diesel engine and a sunken middle section for storing caught fish.
Ace sat at the bow, and the old man sat at the stern controlling the direction. The two of them thus left Pallet Town and headed towards Cinnabar Island.
"Young man, what makes you want to go to a place like Cinnabar Island?" the old man asked Ace while steering the small boat. "I see you should be a Pokémon Trainer, so why not catch a Water-type Pokémon to cross the sea instead of renting my old man's boat?"
Ace shook his head, not speaking, but frantically scoffing in his mind, "If I had a Water-type Pokémon, I'd be crazy to spend three thousand League currency to ride your rickety boat!"
Ace's silence didn't stop the old man from talking. The old man was very chatty, rambling on about many things Ace had never heard before.
For instance, he didn't catch fish Pokémon like Magikarp or Goldeen; he caught actual fish.
Moreover, the old man didn't own any Pokémon. According to him, even if he encountered fierce wild Pokémon, he had his own way of dealing with them.
For example, most wild Pokémon in the sea that intercepted his boat primarily saw him as food.
At such times, the old man only had to pay a portion of his caught fish, and usually, those wild Pokémon would let him go.
Over time, the old man had developed a certain relationship with the wild Pokémon in the vicinity.
Every time he went out fishing, he would give two-tenths of his catch to the nearby wild Pokémon, and naturally, these wild Pokémon wouldn't threaten their long-term food source.
Even more remarkably, if an external wild Pokémon tried to attack the old man's boat, the local wild Pokémon would dissuade it.
Of course, this was also due to the old man's good luck in not encountering truly vicious individuals. Otherwise, even if he offered two-tenths of his fish, it would likely be difficult to achieve the current situation.
"Are you content with giving away your catch like that?" Ace couldn't help but ask after hearing the old man's story.
"What else can I do if I'm not content?" the old man said with a smile. "This is our way of survival as fishermen. Giving up a portion of the harvest is much better than sinking into this sea, isn't it?"
Ace nodded. The old man's experience was arguably a true reflection of the lives of the people at the bottom of this world.
They had no Pokémon, let alone powerful ones.
The outside world hadn't yet reached the point of peaceful coexistence between humans and Pokémon as it would in the future. In this perilous environment, they could only struggle to survive and find a way to live.
When the old man reached the fishing grounds he usually frequented, he slightly slowed down and still cast his fishing net, preparing to catch some sea fish.
Although this trip wasn't for fishing, to ensure a safe return, he had to prepare the "toll."
He cast the net, and as it was pulled up, the old man's face turned grim.
Inside the net were only a sparse two or three small fish and a few Magikarp.
The old man threw the Magikarp back into the sea and sighed, "It's getting harder and harder to catch. Let's go a bit further and try again."
Ace nodded, not stopping him.
This was something he had agreed upon with the old man before renting the boat, so Ace could only follow the old man and let him catch his fish first.
The small boat started moving, continuing towards the open sea.
But neither of them noticed that in the deep sea, a dark shadow was slowly swimming towards the small boat.
...
The old man moved to another spot and, relying on years of fishing experience, cast his net again.
Soon, the old man pulled up the net. This time, there were many more fish inside, at least a dozen.
The old man nodded with satisfaction at this result.
For him, the "toll" was enough.
But just as the old man was throwing the Magikarp entangled in the net back into the sea, Ace caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye and then watched in horror as a dark shadow rapidly crashed into the small boat from beneath the surface of the sea!
"Look out!"
Ace yelled loudly, but it was already too late.
In this vast ocean, what could a small boat do?
The answer was: nothing at all!
The deck shook violently, and Ace felt his body lose control. With a stumble, Ace fell into the sea.
The icy seawater surged over him, and Ace quickly sank. His heavy backpack dragged him towards the seabed.
"No, I have to abandon the backpack!"
All of Ace's belongings were in his backpack, but this wasn't about being reluctant anymore. If Ace didn't ditch the backpack, he might just sink to the bottom of the sea with it!
Quickly taking off his backpack, Ace didn't even have time to worry about it. He used both his hands and feet, quickly swimming towards the surface.
"Puh-ha!"
Breaking the surface, Ace had just taken a breath of fresh air, but the next moment, a jet of water struck him, directly knocking him back into the sea!